Italian Grand Prix Preview - Williams Martini Racing Team

(Williams Martini Racing Team)

Williams Martini Racing head to this weekend's Italian Grand Prix at the Monza circuit with the aim to overhaul the Ferrari F1 Team who are ten points ahead of the Grove based outfit in third place in the Constructors championship with seven Grand Prix remaining the season. Williams have seen an incredible turnaround in the fortunes compared to where they were this time last season.

In 2013, the team scored just five points during the entire season however so far in 2014 they have score 150 points and have achieved four podium finishes which have all come thanks to Valtteri Bottas who is shortly expected to commit his future to the Williams team as the highly rated Finn is out of contract with the team at the end of the current campaign and he sees no reason to move elsewhere.

He heads to the Italian Grand Prix in search of yet another podium and possibly even challenge Mercedes and Infiniti Red Bull Racing for the win as the FW36 has a fantastic speed advantage over its rivals and the Italian circuit is high speed throughout. Bottas commented:

'Monza could be a great track for our car and I know we will be busy with our partners, many of whom are coming to Italy. The track is really good fun to drive and it is important to have good straight-line speeds as it has some very quick straights. We have a track specific aero package that we will take, combine that with the strong power-unit and we could have a very competitive weekend.'

In contrast to his team mate, Felipe Massa heads to the Italian Grand Prix in search of his first podium finish for the Williams team and has requested that the team switch the brake system on his FW36. The Brazilian is currently in 9th place in the Drivers championship on 40 points following a string of disappointing results so far this season.

Massa commented:

'Monza is a place I enjoy. I love the people and the fans and I hope now despite the fact that I have moved teams that they still support and cheer for me. Monza is a special circuit as it’s so quick, but the corners are quite slow. Aerodynamics are vital at a track like this and that could benefit us over the weekend. I hope to be competitive here as I think the Italian fans would like to see us do well.'

Williams Martini Racing's Head of Performance Engineering Rob Smedley returns to Italy for the first time since leaving the Ferrari team and the Englishman commented:

'The track should suit our car as it requires a very low downforce package. We expect all the teams to adapt their cars for the nature of the circuit and have specialised Monza aerodynamics. We have worked a lot on the long straights and high drag sensitivity, and so are confident that the aero package will be effective. The track offers a good mix of low and medium speed corners. At this time of year we can expect high temperatures which can cause issues with tyre temperatures on the long straights. Monza is one of the last of the old circuits, in a great setting with some of the most passionate fans in the world.'

© Ben Johnston 2014